Whilst going through my old bookmarks, I stumbled upon a blog I'd started to write on study break back in 2007 which covered my adventures with the first Divine Divinity game. Reading it again, I came up with the idea of making an 'honour-thread' for all of the various characters across the Watch out there that have conquered the game.

Although this is approaching spoilerish territory, to make the thread potentially useful to visitors, we could also include the tactics/strategies used to defeat the Circle of 5. I remember the last quarter of the game gave me some difficulty at the time and so I had to constantly experiment.
Taken from my blog entry, my cheese tactic consisted of the following for Josephina and the Amphibian Nightmare (the Demon of Lies…)

PS: If this isn't the right section for the thread - hopefully a mod can redirect or sticky it accordingly.

Ovenall

July 28th, 2011 04:37

Not really a direct reply to your post, but I want to thank you for turning me on to this game. I just got it from GOG the other day and am really enjoying it. It's like a Diablo that's actually interesting. And you can pause! Hallelujah!

Nice game. I just cleared out the cursed abbey and the surrounding countryside, playing a warrior mage. It's a little old and rusty, but it has me HOOKED.

JDR13

September 19th, 2011 11:54

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Hoorah!… I finally got around to finishing DD. :sweatdrop:

Very good game overall, but the final 15-20% of the game lowered my opinion somewhat. It's almost as if Larian ran out of creativity and just decided it would be a good idea to make the end-game one long and monotonous dungeon slog.

Also, some of the bosses towards the end were ridiculous in terms of the difficulty spike they presented.

Looking forward to diving into DKS now…

DArtagnan

September 19th, 2011 14:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDR13
(Post 1061093083)

Hoorah!… I finally got around to finishing DD. :sweatdrop:

Very good game overall, but the final 15-20% of the game lowered my opinion somewhat. It's almost as if Larian ran out of creativity and just decided it would be a good idea to make the end-game one long and monotonous dungeon slog.

Also, some of the bosses towards the end were ridiculous in terms of the difficulty spike they presented.

Looking forward to diving into DKS now…

How long was it?

JDR13

September 19th, 2011 15:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
(Post 1061093118)

How long was it?

Impossible for me to say with any strong degree of accuracy, but I'm guessing at least 60+ hours, not including reloads. The save games don't record play time, and it was an "off and on" playthrough for me.

It was definitely a little too long though.

Pessimeister

September 19th, 2011 15:48

Huzzah! Finally another entry to our honour roll. Good stuff JDR13. Care to elaborate on your main strategies for taking out the Demon of Lies?

I think I actually got stuck on the fight with Josephina for longer than I did that one…but used the same concept (as above) to beat them both.

JDR13

September 19th, 2011 16:03

Yeah, Josephina was a real pain, and so were Moriendor and Cornelius to a lesser degree.

I eventually beat her by using Flash Attack to teleport next to her before she could cast her spells. I'd get in a lot of hits that way before she could do any damage.

I didn't find the Demon of Lies to be as difficult. I just used hit & run tactics until he was dead. A lot of restoration and shadow potions helped there.

I'd say Josephina was the most frustrating battle in the game for me though… she actually had me close to going aggro on my keyboard at one point. :D

DArtagnan

September 19th, 2011 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDR13
(Post 1061093122)

Impossible for me to say with any strong degree of accuracy, but I'm guessing at least 60+ hours, not including reloads. The save games don't record play time, and it was an "off and on" playthrough for me.

It was definitely a little too long though.

Thanks.

Sounds pretty meaty… I should probably try playing again… I don't even remember why I stopped the last time.

JDR13

September 20th, 2011 01:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
(Post 1061093129)

Sounds pretty meaty… I should probably try playing again… I don't even remember why I stopped the last time.

Other than the endgame, I thought it was really good throughout. If it wasn't for that last section being such a grind it might have been in my top ten.

As far as 2D isometric crpgs go, it's definitely one of the best.

txa1265

November 27th, 2011 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDR13
(Post 1061093213)

Other than the endgame, I thought it was really good throughout. If it wasn't for that last section being such a grind it might have been in my top ten.

As far as 2D isometric crpgs go, it's definitely one of the best.

I know exactly what you mean … but for me it is in my top 10 *in spite* of the ending being such a grind. It happens to so many games where you hit 'obvious endgame start point', KotOR, VtM:Bloodlines, and on and on …

Pessimeister

February 2nd, 2012 09:22

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Over the last couple of weeks I've been replaying Divine Divinity as a Mage in order to chronologically prepare for my first shot at the Dragon Knight Saga.

Thus, getting this thread back on topic - here is another character for the Honour Roll! :)

Wading through waves of monsters getting up to the Circle of 5 was probably more tedious than the fights with the bosses themselves, which proved much easier this time around with a variety of spell-power to choose from.

I encountered some difficulty with the first Josephina encounter and had to explore elsewhere for awhile, but she fell after alot of experimenting. (Lightning/Burning wall)

Here was my method for her second incarnation in the Black Lake dungeon and the Demon of Lies:

1. Use Survivor's Curse a few times to lower magical resistance. (I had mine at level 3)
2. Target with Freeze. (Level 5) If unsucessful, try step 1. again….
3. Target with Leech Life (Level 5)
4. Finish off with favourite spell (in my case, it was Elemental Bolt at level 5)

Looking forward to seeing if DKS is as immersive and fun as Divine Divinity is. :)

The only problem I had was with Joesphina and after reading up a bit found that potions of shadow and the warriors special move eventually took care of her. Everyone else I just polymorphed and then beat into a pulp, including the Demon of Lies.

I never did find my teleportation pyramid… my only unfinished quest :(

Still, this is one of the best CRPGS I've ever played and one of the few that I've actually finished, along with Eschalon I & II.